Composite wall panel



Feb. 29, 1944. R. 'r. MILLER 342532 l COMPOSITE WAM..` PANEL Filed oct. 1a, 1940 s sneeis-sneet 1 Jo zo 30 26 22 sa@ Jo l/ dab 7 f.fab

I i .5, AoafRr'Z'M/um BY ma ATToRNE Feb. 29, l 94 4. R. T. MILLER COMPOSITE WALL PANEL- Filed oct. 18, 1940 3 Sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Feb. 29,l 1944.

R. T. MILLER COMPOSITE WALL PANEL 5 sheeis-she'et 3 Filed Oct. 18 1940 INVENTOR Raaf-Rr 7.' /W/LER ATTO R N EY Patented Feb. 29, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMPOSITE WALL PANEL Robert T. Miller, Chicago Heights, Ill., assigner to Masonite Corporation, Laurel, Miss., a corporation of Delaware A Application October 18, 1940, Serial No. 361,689

Claims.

- studs, rafters, joints, etc., accurately on spacings of a fraction of 48 inches, as 16 or 24 inches, cut and install short header pieces between the beams wherever joints will come at right angles to the beams, and apply insulation board of 4 ft. standard width nailed to the accurately spaced beams and headers along the edges and at intermediate points, and then make a similar and separate application of thesurface wearing sheet thereover.

This former practice has many objections, the beam spacing must be kept accurate, breakage will ensue on nailing at sheet edges, the operations are slow and tedious, the headers are short pieces withoutstrength in the direction at right angles to the beams and are often driven out of line in applying the sheet members, etc., etc.

' The principal object of the present invention consists in the provision of a composite unit panel structure in which the insulation and the hard wearing surface are combined in one unit,with strong reinforcing strips, as wood strips, along the longer edges of the panel and the insulation ma.. terial located between these strips, whereby substantially all the objections to former practice are eliminated, the beam spacings can be irregular for the panels can be cutoff to any desired length without changing the end conformation thereof,

Y the application is quickly and readily made and all completed in the one operation, no headers are needed, the reinforcing strips being long and continuous and so straight and strong, and eliminating headers and troubles encoimtered therewith, the joints between exterior panels can be made tight and an insulated wall surface 'inexpensively obtained having pleasing ce and excellent strength and durability.

By making the wearing surface sheets and the backing members therefor (said backing membersconsistingoftheedgereinforcingstrlpsand the insulation sheet between the edge reinforcing strips) of substantially the same dimensions but offsetting the wearing surface sheets with respect to the backing members, I am enabled to obtain a shiplap-like joint between adjacent panels which is highly advantageous, particularly in the v case of panels for forming exterior walls, and it is an object of the invention to provide a composite panel .as generally w1-med have and um 55 Fig.8isabackelevation ofsame;

(Cl. 2li-4).

such offset relation between surface sheet and backing member and providing such shiplap-like joint between adjacent panels when applied to form a wall surface.

5 In addition -to providing a panel with provision for obtaining shiplap-like joints as above referred to, it is an object of the invention to provide additional interlocking between adjacent panels by providing interlocking or interengag-v lo ing means, as for example tongue and groove interengaging means, between the backing members themselves and especially between the reinforcing strip portions of such backing members.

Afurther object is the provision of composite l5 panel units having thebacking members comprising insulation oiiset from the hard surface sheets to thereby make shiplap-like joints between adjacent panels when applied, and additionally having interlocking means such as tongue and groove interlocking means between the backing members of the adjacent panels.

A further object is to provide a complete con-4 l structional unit having great stiffness vand strength. particularly at'its edges in the direction of its greater dimension, whereby such units may be applied horizontally across the faces of beams such as vertical wall studs without the necessity Vfor close or accurate stud spacing or need fr providing headers or other backing means along the horizontal joints between panels.

Further objects will become apparent or be pointed out during the course of the specication wherein I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, and in which 5 Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one preferred form of an exterior wall panel made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a back elevation of same; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of same as applied to form a bottom lcourse on the exterior of a building, and also showing the bottom portion of a similar unit applied next above the rst unit and interengaging same Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 12,

' showing an inside corner formed by two exterior showing an end joint between two coplanar ex- -terior wall panels; N

Fig. 'I is a front view of a wall panel generally similar to the rst form. but adapted for interior use.'`

Fig. 9 is a section taken on44 the line 3-9 of Fig. 13 showing one interior wall panel in section, and the next higher wall panel and associated molding and joint structure in dotted lines;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line III-I0 of Fig. 13 showing an inside corner of two meeting interior walls;

Fig. 11 is a section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 13 showing an outside corner of two meeting interior walls;

Fig. 12' shows the exterior of a specimen building constructed of the above illustrated interior and exterior panel units, parts of the outer panel wall being broken away to show interior wall construction; and

Fig. 13 is a view, with parts broken away, of the interior of a specimen building constructed of the above illustrated interior and exterior panel units.

The panel constructional unit of my invention may best be embodied in two forms, one for exterior use and one for interior use.

As best seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the panel 20 for exterior use is relatively long and narrow and comprises a sheet of hard, dense surface material 22, preferably a grainless hot-pressed, self-bonded board of wood or woody material, such as that disclosed and claimed in U. S. Patent 1,663,505 to William H. Mason. Sheet material in accordance with the said patent provides a desirably hard, durable wearing surface. This surface panel material for forming outer wall. surfaces should be highly waterproof, and is preferably impregnated with siccative oil and baked as in accordanue with U. S. Patent 1,941,536 to Robert M. Boehm. While sheet material as above described is preferred, compressed sheets of materials such as cement and asbestos, sheets made from or comprising synthetic resins, resin bonded plywood and various other dense strong surface sheets may be used if desired.

Afiixed to the back of said surface sheet, preferably by continuous contact waterproof adhesive bonding, is a thicker, lighter and more porous sheet 24 having high insulating value. Such sheet of insulating material may desirably be that disclosed and claimed in U. S. Patent 1,663,504 to William H. Mason. Such sheets of insulating material or other insulating materials dried in hot air driers instead of in a press may be used and contribute materially tothe strength of the panel. Other and non-rigid insulating materials as quilt insulating materials, Cellufoam, and the like, may be used if desired since the surface sheets together with the reinforcing edge strips later referred to provide a strong construction without need for reliance upon the insulating material to impart the desired strength to the panel.

This insulating sheet 24 extends at its ends substantially flush with the ends of the hard surface sheet 22. At its top and bottom edges, it stops short of the top and bottom edges of the hard surface sheet of exterior panel 20, being set back at the bottom by a distance approximately twice the setback at the top, see Fig. 3. Reinforcing strips are provided at each edge of the panel. At the top edge is affixed a strong reinforcing strip 26, as of natural wood, fitting against the back face of the extending portion of the surface sheet 22 and against the top edge of the insulation sheet 24 and bonded to both of them by waterproof adhesive. This reinforcing strip 26 is preferably of the same thickness as the insulation material 24, especially when a rigid inupwardly projecting part of the top reinforcing strip 26. Such nails will be covered up by subsequently applied panels.

Means are provided for effecting an interlocking engagement between the reinforcing strips of adjacent panels, as for example, tongue and groove arrangement,A or equivalent thereof. In the form shown, the reinforcing strip 26 is provided with a tongue 26 along its top edge to interengage with a groove yet to be described provided in an adjacent panel. The projecting part of reinforcing strip 26 is also provided with a caulk. ing groove 30 on the. face which comes behind the hard surface sheet 22 of the next panel to be applied- Near the bottom of the composite unit a second reinforcing strip 32 is provided, likewise preferably of natural wood and preferably of the same thickness as the insulation sheet 24. 'I'his strip 32 is similarly secured as by waterproof adhesive bonding to the surface sheet 22 and to the bottom edge of the insulation sheet 24. This strip 32 is preferably of width equal to about half the extent to which the surface sheet 22 overlaps the insulation sheet 24, so that bottom edge of strip 32 comes to about the center of this overlap, leaving a portion of surface sheet 22 extending down beyond strip 32.

The insulation material 24 and strips 26 and 32 taken all together constitute a backing member for the surface sheet 22, which backing is of substantially the same overall dimension as the surface sheet 22, but is transversely offset with respect thereto. Thus a shiplap-like joint is formed between adjacent panels in addition to interlocking joints such, for example, as tongue and groove joints between the backing members.

The bottom edge of the backing strip 32 is provided with means for interlocking with the backing member of an adjacent panel, as for example, provided with a groove 34 corresponding to the tongue 28 on the top reinforcing strip 26. 'I'he important dimensional relation is that the top reinforcing strip 26 (exclusive of its tongue 28) protrudes beyond the top edge of surface sheet 22 by the same distance that the bottom reinforcing strip 32 is set back from the bottom edge of the surface sheet 22. The top and bottom edges of the surface sheet 22 are provided with complementary double bevels 36a, 36h, 38a, and 38h. 'I'he inner bevels 36a and 38a. slope up and in at both top and bottom, while the outer bevels 36h and 36h slope down and out at the top edge and 4up and out at the bottom edge.

In constructing an outer wall, the usual vertical studs 40 are preferably first provided, and then composite wall panels as above described are applied ,and fastened to the studs with the greater dimension of the wall panels running horizontally. Successive panels of the nature above described are applied to the studs, one above the other, with the interlocking means, as tongues and grooves, of the reinforcing strips fitting within each other and the bottom edge of each surface sheet 22 lapping over the top reinforcing strip 26 of the panel below and abutting against the top edge of the surface sheet 22 of the unit below. The double bevels above described provide attractive V-grooves at the meeting lines between the upper and lower surface sheets, and at :the same time serve to avoid sharp edges which might be broken or otherwise damaged. The complementary inner bevels 36a, 38a provide an upwardly and inwardly sloping and water-repelling butt joint in from the said V-grooves.

White lead caulking or any desired waterproof plastic composition material is placed in the caulking .groove 30. -Thus water on the outside of the building tends first to drop oif at the angie formed between the two bevels 38a, 38h at the bottom edge of the upper surface sheet. Next, to penetrate the wall, it must flow upwardly along the plane of the butt joint. 1f it reaches the face of the reinforcing strlp'26 it cannot go down between it and the surface sheet 22 because this is a tight, integrated joint of waterproof adhesive. To travel farther inwardly it must then go straight up the surface of the reinforcing strip, whereupon it meets the caulking laid in the caulking groove 30. Travel beyond this point is not possible.

In Fig. 4, I have shown a waterproof inside corner joint for exterior walls, such as occurs at A in Fig. 12. The meeting ends of wall panels 20, 20 are nailed or otherwise fastened to the studs 40, 40, as by nails 42, 42 driven through the panels 20. Desirably the panel 20a may stop just Ashort of the stud 10b and the panel 20h stop just short of the surface of the rst panel 20a. Upon applying the panels, the L- shaped space thus left is lled with caulking composition 44. On the outer faces of the two meeting or approximately meeting panels 20a, 20h, interengaging vertical corner sealing strips 46a, 46h are provided. The strip 46a is preferably provided with a tongue 48a along the outer face of its inner edge while the sealing strip 4Gb is provided with a corresponding groove 4Gb inits outer face, near but not at its inner edge. When secured in place in its interlocking relationship, these sealing strips provide a tightly fitting bevel joint which prevents the entry of water and air. The sealing strips are preferably secured in place as by nails 43 driven through the composite units into the studs 40a, 40h, and cover the nails 42.

Fig. 5 illustrates asomewhat similar watertight sealing method which I have devised for outside corners on the exterior walls, such as occur at B in Fig. 12. In this case the composite panel c preferably extends just short of ush with the face of the stud 40, and the composite panel 20d of the other wall at right angles to the first extends just short of coming flush with the outer face ofthe composite panel 20c. This provides an L-shaped space which is filled with caulking material 44. Here the two sealing strips 50a, 50h are provided with tongue and groove, the tongue 52a of sealing strip 50a being on its edge nearest the corner and at its inner face, while the groove 52h on the sealing strip 50h is near but spaced from its edge nearest the corner and formed in its inner face. Here again the ends of the composite panels may be secured to the stud 40 as by nails 42 while the sealing strips 50a, 50h are positioned in interlocking relationship and secured as by nails 43 driven through the composite panels and into the stud 40, covering up the heads ofthe nails 42 used in attaching the composite panels.

Fig. 6 illustrates a butt joint of coplanar panels, such as occurs at C in Fig. 12. The stud 40 is positioned on the panels 20 cut off so that the vertical butt joint between the panels 2.0 will occur at the stud center. A thin layer of caulking composition 44 is applied on the stud face, and the panel ends are then fastened to the stud, as by nails 42, with the ends of the panels preferably slightly spaced apart. Caulking composition 44 fills this space between the panel ends. A flat batten 54` is applied vertically over the joint, covering the nails 42, and is nailed to the stud 40 by nails 56 passing through the caulking composition between the ends of the panels 20. The bottoms may be of various materials, as wood, fiber board strip, metal, etc. While a hat bottom is shown. the joint as well as the corner joints can be covered in various other ways as by metal moldings, etc.

It will be seen that the surface sheet. 22 of each of the exterior panels 20 extends downwardly beyond the bottom reinforcing strip 32 thereof, while at the top of suchpanels 20 the surface sheet 22 stops short of the upper reinforcing strip 26 by a distance approximately equal to the bottom extension of sheet 22. The general shiplap relation between adjacent panels 20 so effected, together with the extra sealing obtained by use of the caulking groove 30 makes it possible to provide an outer wall surface composed of horizontal4 panels 20 successively applied one above another which is initially highly tight and weather resistant, and remains so over long periods especially when kept well painted- In Figs. 7, 8 and 9, I have illustrated panels 58 constituting a preferred embodiment for forming interior walls. A hard, durable surface sheet is used, of generally long andnarrow shape, such as 2 feet by 12 feet for example, preferably of the same nature as in the exterior composite panels except that it need not be as dense and need not be especially waterproof. A sheet of insulation material 62, preferably such as used in the exterior composite panel, is adhesively 'bonded to the rear 'face o f the surface sheet 60. This insulation sheet 62 is narrower than the surface sheet 60 and set back about equal distances from the top and bottom edges of sheet `60. Reinforcing strips 64, 66 of longitudinally strong material, such as natural wood, fit in the recessed corners which are left at each side of the insulation sheet 62, coming flush with the edges of the surface sheet 60 and preferably flush with the rear surface of the insulation sheet 62. These reinforcing strips 64, 86 are adhesively bonded to both surface sheet and insulation sheet. In this case the water lock feature is not required, so the overlapping relationship provided by lowering the surface sheet 22 with respect to the other parts of the exterior panels 2B. is dispensed with. Interlocking means such as the corresponding tongues 68 and grooves 10 of desired shape are formed in the bottom and top reinforcing strips 64, 66 respectively, the tongue 68 extending out beyond the otherwise flush bottom ends of the surface sheet 60 and reinforcing strip 86.

As in the first form of panel, the ends of the reinforcing strips, insulation material and the surface sheet are flush, and the panel can ,be cut across by a. simple cut to provide any desired lengths and meet any stud spacing, such cutting producing no change in end conformation since all transverse sections are alike. In constructing an interior wall with these composite units 58, same are secured `as by nailing through the surface sheet portions and edge reinforcing i by nails 42 near the ends of the panels.

strips to vertical studs. The composite panels 58 preferably extend with their greater dimension horizontal and are applied one above the other with the tongues and grooves interlocking to position them accurately with respect to each other and to provide positive dust-and-air-tight joints. These tongue and groove joints may -be packed with a thin coating of waterproof com position before assembly if desired.

The top and bottom edges of the surface sheets B of panels 58 are provided with simple bevels 12, 14 which form V-grooves when successive composite units are ,applied to form the inner wall.

In the case of the composite units for both the interior and the exterior walls, the panels are cut of! or the studs are spaced so that any end butt joints between the composite panel sections will come at the centers of studs, the same as indicated in Fig. 6. Where tongues and grooves are provided to constitute the edge interlocking means, it is unimportant in the case of the panel for the interior wall whether the panels are installed with either tongues or grooves at the bottom whereas in the case of the panel for the exterior wall the application of the panel must, of course, be with the groove side down.

Fig. illustrates a preferred form of inside corner for interior Walls, as occurs at C in Fig. 13, constructed in accordance with my invention. Panels 58a and 58h are secured to studs/'40 as Panel 58D extends near but not quite to the opposing stud, while panel 58a is beveled back and in as at 16 to assure close outer surface contact of the meeting panels. The nails holding panel 58h are covered by the end of panel 58a.

Fig. l1 illustrates both an outside corner for interior walls and a vertical joint in a flat wall portion.

Panels 58e, 58d meet at the projecting edge of corner stud 40, and theirends are beveled back and in by slightly over each, as at 18, assuring a close fit near the meeting outer surfaces. In the simplest form of corner joint, the outer edges of the surface sheets 60 are slightly beveled off to avoid easily damaged sharp corners. The panels may be secured to the stud 40 as by nails 42 near the ends of thepanels.

Where the ends of panels 58e, 58j meet on a fiat interior wall, they are simply butted as shown in Fig. 11, and secured as by nails 42 to stud I0. Bevels 80 at the outer end edges of the panels 58e, 58j' provide a V-groove at the joint.

Fig. 9 illustrates how these interior wall panels may readily be adapted to the requirements of finished interior trim. The rst composite panel 58 can be set on the oor 8|. A baseboard 82 may readily be provided to cover the bottom edge of the lowermost panel 58 and can be fastened as by nailing it through the panel into the studs. Suitable corner moldings 8|, 86 complete the installation.

According to one usual prior practice, sheets of insulation or other wall board material were nailed directly to the studs with the long way of the sheet vertical. The standard width for insulation boards, wallboards, plywoods, plaster board, etc., being 4 ft. required accurate spacing of studs at intervals constituting some fraction of 48 inches, usually 16 or 24 inches so that the joints could be made at center stud line. If boards of this standard width of 4 ft. were secured to the studs with their greatest length hori- -zontaL it was necessary because of the lack of strength of such materials along the edges and because of intermediate bulging, etc.. troubles, to

vfit headers between the studs to provide backing support for the horizontal edges of the sheets. The fitting, sawing, and nailing of these headers was a laborious and expensive operation, in addition to its producing none too satisfactory results. With this invention, on the other hand, the reinforcing strips 84, 88 provide a continuous beam strength across a considerable number of studs whereby absolute fiatness and accuracy is attained and greater strength results because of the continuous beam structure. According to the prior method, surface sheets were sometimes applied as a separate operation after the insulation sheets had been applied. This required extra labor, time and expense and made for less accurate and smooth results. Furthermore, the inner and outer sheets of material according t0 such practice did not serve to reinforce each other and give the full stiffness of a single composite thickness as is attained with the'present invention. In the case of exterior construction, even this prior practice, unsatisfactory as it was, was not suitable because of the requirement for waterproofness. y

My panels may be quite long and can be cut of! at the ends of any desired length and are there- The and stiffness over prior practices, is an advance in expedition and economy with respect to interior wall construction, and is a comparatively radical step forward over anyv previously known practice for constructing exterior and interior walls.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that they are illustrative only, and my invention is limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wall construction comprising a plurality of elongated generally rectangular panels, each having its back portion made up of a pair of parallel separated strips of longitudinally stiff and strong material and extending along the longer edges only, with porous insulation board filling the space therebetween and of substantially the same thickness as the strips, and the outer p0rtion of the pane1 consisting of a sheet of hard durable material of width substantially equal to the combined width of insulating material and strips, the panel having the outer sheet portion offset in the direction of the pane1 Width to set back somewhat along one of the longer edges of the panel and extend out correspondingly along the opposite edge, al1 these parts being secured together into an integrated whole, said panel secured by fastenings extending through the strips into studs, the strips of the panels extending directly across a series of building studs to bridge across the interstud spaces, said extended edge of the outer sheet portion of one pane1 extending over the surface of the strip and abutting the edge of the offset sheet portion of an adjacent pane1.

2. A wall construction as defined in claim 1 and in which the said strips have corresponding interlocking formations in their outer edges and are interlocked in the wall construction.

3. A wall construction as defined in claim 1 in which the said strips have corresponding tongue and groove formations in their outer edges and are interlocked in the wall construction.

4. A wall construction comprising a plurality of elongated generally rectangular panels, each having its back portion madeup of a pair of parallel separated strips of longitudinally sti and strong material and extending along its longer edges only, with porous insulation board nlling the space therebetween and of substantially the same thickness as the strips, and the outer portion of the panel consisting of a sheet of hard durable material of width substantially equal to the combined width of insulating 'material and l strips, all the said parts being secured together into an integrated whole, the panel being secured l0 edges.

by tastenings extending through the strips into studs, the strips of the panels extending directly across a series of building studs to bridge across the interstud spaces and said strips of adjacent panels having complementary interlocking Iormations.

5. A wall construction as defined in claim 4 and in which the said interlocking formations are tongue and groove formations in their outer ROBERT T. MILLER. 

